University of Helsinki
At the next PoS seminar on Monday 7.12., Catherine Herfeld (University of Zurich) will give a presentation titled “Thick Concepts in Economics: The Case of Becker and Murphy’s Theory of Rational Addiction”, based on a paper co-authored by Charles Djordjevic (St. Olaf College). The seminar takes place in Zoom from 2 to 4 pm.
Perspectives on Science is a weekly research seminar which brings together experts from science studies and philosophy of science. It is organized by TINT – Centre for Philosophy of Social Science at the University of Helsinki. More information about the seminar here.
To join the seminar please contact tatu.nuotio@helsinki.fi for the Zoom invitation.
Author bio:
Catherine Herfeld is an assistant professor of social theory and philosophy of the social sciences at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Her research interests fall into the areas of philosophy and history of economics. For more information: https://catherineherfeld.weebly.com
Abstract:
In this paper, we examine the viability of avoiding value judgements encoded in thick concepts when these concepts are used in economic theories. We focus specifically on what implications this might have for the tenability of the fact/value dichotomy in economics. Thick concepts have an evaluative and a descriptive component. Our suggestion is that despite frequent attempt to rid thick concepts of their evaluative component, economists are often not successful. More specifically, we focus on the strategy of explication to remove the evaluative component of thick concepts and argue that often economists either have to make value judgements or are unable to individuate out the phenomenon under analysis. We support our claim with a case study from economics, namely the concept of addiction in Gary Becker et al.’s Theory of Rational Addiction (1988, 1996). One consequence is that theories containing thick concepts commit the economists to making value judgements and as such undermine the fact/value dichotomy.